Javier Sanchez is new Torrance County commissioner

Wednesday, November 9, 2016By Leota Harriman

As The Independent went to press on Election Day, voters anxiously watched the polls across the nation and the state. Unofficial results in Torrance County were fully reported by press time, with Javier Sanchez coming out on top of the County Commission District 3 race, and Tracy Sedillo easily beating opponent Margarita Hibbs.

In the 1st Congressional District, incumbent and Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham and Republican Richard Priem were only six votes apart in Torrance County, with Grisham pulling in 3,108 votes to Priem’s 3,102.

Republican Nora Espinoza came out on top in Torrance County in the Secretary of State’s race, with 58.53 percent of voters supporting her to 41.47 percent for Democrat Maggie Toulouse Oliver.

Republican Jim White ended ahead of Democrat Harold “Spike” Murphree in Torrance County by 68.17 percent to 31.83 percent, respectively, in the race for State Senate District 19.

Likewise in Senate District 39, in Torrance County Republican Ted Barela was the big winner over Democrat Liz Stefanics by 72.62 percent to 27.18 percent.

In the State House District 50 race, Republican Jeremy Tremko was ahead of incumbent and Democrat Matthew McQueen by 56.62 percent to 43.38 percent.

The legislative districts here are comprised of parts of multiple counties.

In the State House District 22 race, Bernalillo County voters gave incumbent and Republican Jim Smith 58.12 percent of the vote to Democrat John Wallace’s 41.87 percent of voters there.

In the State House District 50 race, Republican Jeremy Tremko lost to incumbent and Democrat Matthew McQueen by 37.18 percent to 62.82 percent, respectively.

The legislative districts here are comprised of parts of multiple counties.

In the race for Bernalillo County Treasurer, Democrat Nancy Bearce got 55.95 percent of the vote to Republican Kim Hillard’s 44.05 percent.

Democrat Linda Stover came out on top for Bernalillo County Clerk, winning 58.39 percent to MaryEllen Ortega-Saenz, who got 41.61 percent.

A “home rule urban county” proposition in the county passed by a 57.64 percent to 42.36 percent vote.

Bernalillo County voters approved bonds for flood control, public housing, drainage and utilities and transportation.

Santa Fe County

As The Independent went to press, Santa Fe County had posted only partial results for all 90 of its precincts. With unofficial and incomplete tallies, Democrat Hillary Clinton was ahead by 70.83 percent to Republican Donald Trump’s 20.22 percent. Independent Gary Johnson got 6.20 percent of the vote there, and Green Jill Stein got 2.04 percent.

In the 3rd Congressional District, Democrat Ben Ray Lujan came out on top in Santa Fe County by 79.71 percent of the vote to Republican Michael Romero’s 20.29 percent.

Likewise, Santa Fe County voters favored Maggie Toulouse Oliver over Republican Nora Espinoza for Secretary of State by a 3 to 1 margin.

Santa Fe County voters with early results passed general obligation bonds for senior centers, water and wastewater projects, public safety facilities, open space and trails, and community health facilities.

Other Races

With about half of all precincts in the state reporting—but only early results from Santa Fe County—the race for State Senate District 39 is too close to call.

Republican and incumbent Ted Barela is showing 9,085 votes for 49.64 percent to Democrat Liz Stefanics, who has 9,217 votes for 50.36 percent of the total.

That result is with 32 out of 41 precincts reporting and partial numbers for the other nine precincts.

Statewide numbers show Democrat Hillary Clinton ahead of Donald Trump by 48.28 percent to Trump’s 39.97, with 834 out of 1,492 precincts counted. Those incomplete results showed Gary Johnson just under 10 percent and Green Jill Stein with 1.24 percent of the vote.

With only 20 precincts out of 468 fully counted, Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, is ahead of Republican Richard Priem by 65.14 percent to 34.86 percent.

In the State House District 50 race, with 12 out of 21 precincts fully counted, Democrat and incumbent Matthew McQueen was ahead of Moriarty Republican Jeremy Tremko by 58.42 percent to 41.58 percent.